Introductions - The Ins & Outs

Due to the nature of my work, I find myself in different places. And just before I am due to speak, I am introduced by somebody. Sometimes the nature of the introductions is interesting. There are some introductions that I am waiting for them to get over with because they seem to be so long and I am sure that the audience is already bored and I wish that the person would just stop and let me start speaking. There are some that are so pithy that they don't do anything; they just go like "And I'd like you to listen to Dr. Clements," or something like that. And then there are some that are so interesting that I think, "I can't wait to hear this person," until I realize that the person is me. And suddenly I'm filled with fear, wondering whether I can match the expectations that have been set up by the person doing the introductions.

All this to say that there are various types of introductions that I've heard. And yet, there's a point where you say that there are some things that need to be said in an introduction and others that can be left out. I had the privilege of being under two presidents at two universities that I studied in – Dr. David McKenna and Dr. Maxie Dunham. They were masters at introductions. I would wait to hear their introductions because they were so good. They would finish it within 60 seconds, but in those 60 seconds, they would create such a desire to listen to the speaker. They would not only be able to get you excited about the speaker, but they would also add something personal about the speaker that piqued your interest and made you want to sit at the edge of your seat and be eager to listen to the speaker. That's what introductions ought to do.

ALLOW ME INTRODUCE YOU TO…

by Dr. Cecil Clements (20th November 2012)



I grew up hearing a name that you may or may not have heard over the years, but it’s a name that my parents used to use often – Emily Post. I remember coming across her trademark book on Etiquette, written way back in the 1920’s. Emily Post lived between 1872 and 1959 and she is remembered mostly for the book that she wrote on Etiquette.

She defines etiquette as, “Whenever two people come together and their behavior affects one another, you have etiquette. It is not some rigid code of manners. It’s simply how persons’ lives touch one another and how they ought to behave in that particular situation.” So she put together a book that has been the trademark book on Etiquette for almost a century. Even though she passed away in 1959, her family has taken over. Today, her granddaughter-in-law Peggy Post continues to do wonderful work in this whole area, taking what her grandmother-in-law wrote many years ago, making it relevant even today in the different spheres that we have.